The Wrong Sort of Coal
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: Billy the Bubbly Engine runs into trouble with Thomas when a shipment of American coal arrives on the island,


Steam engines run on many types of coal. American engines like Hank and Porter run on different coal than Sudrain engines like Thomas and Percy. That's one of the reasons American engines have to be rebuilt when they come to Sodor; their fireboxes won't support Sudrian coal.

One day, coal was being loaded into some trucks at the Docks. The giant claw of a crane dropped it in the trucks.

"Nice work there, I guess," mumbled Cranky.

"Thanks!" replied the crane. Porter shunted the trucks onto a siding next to two other lines of coal trucks. One line was meant to go back to the Mainland, while the other two would stay; there had been a shipment error.

Billy arrived to take one line of trucks to the coal bunkers on Sodor.

"Hello Porter," said Billy. Porter looked up and smiled.

"Hello there Billy, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Just delivering some coal trucks."

Billy's driver coupled him up to the line of trucks on the far left. Salty shunted a brakevan behind and Billy set off.

An hour or two later, Billy had just finished delivering coal to Thomas at Ffarquhar and was resting in the shed. Billy was dozing when suddenly he heard wheezing.

He opened his eyes and saw that it was Thomas, struggling to pull his coaches.

"Thomas, we're not that heavy!" snorted Annie indignantly.

"Much too slow," agreed Clarabel.

To Billy's surprise, Thomas was wheezing.

"I... can't... pull..." he wheezed.

His driver telephoned for Toby to come.

"Sorry," replied the yardmaster, "But Toby doesn't feel well either. Try Daisy."

Daisy arrived to take Annie and Clarabel.

"Coaches! I don't deserve to pull," she muttered as she was coupled up.

Billy shunted Thomas onto a siding.

"What happened Thomas?" asked Billy.

"I.. don't know..." wheezed Thomas and he coughed.

Billy was worried.

Daisy purred away with the coaches, still grumbling.

Some other steam engines started wheezing too, as Billy found out when he past Tidmouth Sheds.

Oliver's face was as green as her paintwork. BoCo arrived to take him and Toby to the Steamworks. BoCo cringed as the they wheezed and coughed.

"Oh my, this isn't good," thought Billy.

He told the Fat Controller at once when he arrived at Knapford.

The Fat Controller was urgent.

"Send me Duck so we can see what coal it is," urged the Fat Controller.

Billy puffed to Arlesbrugh, where Duck was moaning to Jock.

"Oh dear, oh dear... I don't feel well..." mumbled Duck in despair.

Jock snorted.

"Maybe you ate a duck by accident, who knows."

Billy puffed in with a coal inspector.

The coal inspector walked out and examined the coal in Duck's bunker.

"Oh dear..."

"What?" asked Duck's fireman.

"Apparently you've all been using Bituminous coal. This isn't the first time this has happened either." said the coal inspector.

"Oh yeah..." said Duck meekly.

"Well, at least then it proves successful in getting rid of it. Now we've got engines feeling sick." said the coal inspector.

The Fat Controller was worried.

"But that means that the Diesels will do all the work! They'll be lazy for sure..."

"Nonsense, we've got more sensible Diesels like BoCo and Paxton." said the driver, "We should be alright."

The Fat Controller sighed and walked back to Billy's cab.

it wasn't just those engines however.

All over the island the coal was bad. Bill and Ben had their fireboxes cleaned and were resting in their shed.

Donald was heezing when he was with Duck at Callan Station.

"Och, this is the worst coal possible," said Donald.

"I agree. This can't be Great Western coal," said Duck.

Murdoch arrived at the Docks and collected the other two lines of trucks.

Salty and Porter were there.

"Thanks Murdoch!" called Porter and he whistled.

"No problem. Luckily I wasn't infected," replied Murdocg and he puffed away with his long train; Murdoch was a strong engine indeed.

At Tidmouth, engines were coughing and sneezing.

Thomas had just had his firebox cleaned out, so he felt fine now.

"I wonder how this happened," he said to Edward.

Edward wheezed.

"I'm not sure, but it must be somebody."

Thomas frowned and puffed out.

Emily was cross.

"I'd like to figure out who did this! *cough* Oh, I'm so sore..."

"We all are. I'd *cough* stop it, *cough* if *cough* I were *cough* you..." sniffed Henry.

Edward was alarmed.

"Henry! You sound awful!"

"I'm the worst of the lot..." replied Henry.

"You should be next to get your firebox cleaned out!"

"But somebody has to find out who did this!" interrupted Duck.

They all thought.

"It could've been Diesel 10 if he somehow sabotaged coal." said Emily.

"But how can a Diesel make coal unusable?" wondered Duck.

"Well, maybe he poisoned *cough* it with some sort of *cough* chemical," suggested Henry.

The engines all shared their idea on the mishap, but nothing seemed that realistic.

Meanwhile, before going back to his branch line, Thomas decided he had to figure out who was responsible.

His crew agreed that it was important. Plus his fireman was planning on being a detective as a side job.

"This'll be perfect!" he grinned to the driver.

At the Docks, Billy was shunting some trucks alongside Salty when Thomas arrived.

"Hello!" called Billy.

"Hi Billy. Porter, can you tell me when the coal first came here?"

"Around 2:00 yesterday," replied Porter.

"And who delivered the trucks?"

Porter gulped.

"Um..."

He looked at Billy.

"Billy..."

Billy was in alarm.

"What?! I didn't know!"

Thomas was cross.

"Billy!"

"You have to believe me Thomas, I swear! I didn't do anything!"

But Thomas had already puffed away to Tidmouth.

"Uh oh... Sorry Billy..." groaned Porter. Billy was upset.

James and Percy arrived at Tidmouth Sheds to find Thomas telling the other engines all about the Docks' records.

"So apparently Billy's responsible!" spluttered Gordon, "Disgraceful!"

"Disgusting!" said James.

"Despicable! *cough*" finished Henry.

Bulgy drove by with Emily's normal passengers.

"Bulgy!" cried Thomas.

Bulgy stopped.

"What?"

"Can you go to the station and tell the Fat Controller about Billy?"

Bulgy agreed and he drove away, but Edward wasn't convinced.

"Thomas, don't accuse others for something. Billy isn't that bad of an engine."

"He's right," agreed Toby, "He may be careless but-"

Thomas had already chuffed away.

"Well, we'll have to find the Fat Controller before Bulgy then..." said Toby.

BoCo arrived to collect Henry.

"Come on Henry, time to get your firebox cleaned." he said.

Henry was grateful as BoCo oiled away.

Emily looked to Edward and Toby.

"Both of you are old, and *wheeze* aren't that fast. Perhaps somebody else should go."

Everybody looked to Gordon.

"Me?! No way man! Besides, I just got my firebox cleaned out. No way I'm going to waste it on some bus."

"Gordon, you're the fastest engine on the railway." pleaded Percy.

"No I'm not. Pip and Emma are. Ask them!" snorted Gordon.

Percy got an idea.

"Perhaps this can be your chance to show them that you're faster...?" he asked cheekily.

Gordon was cross.

"That won't work either! I've become friends with Pip and Emma."

The engines were now desperate.

They looked to Emily when Pip and Emma raced into Tidmouth.

"Percy, go tell to them!" said James.

Percy puffed up to the station.

"Ah, uh, hi you two. Can I ask you to get to Knapford before Bulgy?" asked Percy.

Pip and Emma smiled at each other.

"OK, but why?"

"Thomas and some of the others are accusing Billy of the horrible coal. But some of us, including me, feel it's unfair, but Thomas already sent Bulgy to tell the Fat Controller. So you have to get there first and tell them it was a misunderstanding."

Pip and Emma knew it was important if Percy talked in long sentences, so they oiled away.

"Come Pip, no time to lose!"

Pip and Emma raced along the tracks at the high speed they usually go.

Bulgy was on the road alongside, not paying the slightest attention to Pip and Emma; he didn't really know or care what they were doing.

"Hi Bulgy!" called Pip.

"Bye Bulgy!" called Emma as they flew by.

Bulgy was surprised.

"What the heck?"

At Knapford, Diesel 10 was trying to reason with the Fat Controller to scrap steam engines.

"Please sir, if you just got Diesels like me, this wouldn't have happened."

The Fat Controller shook his head.

"I doubt it. Besides, your fuel is just as likely to be poisoned."

Diesel 10 was cross.

"But sir!"

Suddenly Pip and Emma arrived.

"Hello!" called Pip and they stopped.

"Pip? Emma? Why did you stop here? This isn't your station!" boomed the Fat Controller.

"Thomas sent Bulgy to tell you about Billy, who they think delivered the bad coal on purpose." said Emma.

Suddenly Bulgy drove up.

"Sir I've got to-"

The Fat Controller held up his hand.

"What in the world is going on? So Thomas is accusing one of my engines?"

Pip and Emma murmured, "Yes,"

The Fat Controller thought for a moment.

"Hmm. Honestly, I won't blame him."

"What?!" cried Pip and Emma together.

Bulgy grinned.

"A mistake any engine could make," replied the Fat Controller, "and I'll find out who loaded the boat with coal too."

Bulgy, Pip, Emma, and Diesel 10 were surprised when the Fat Controller closed the door.

Whiff arrived with a rubbish train.

"So what's up guys?"

Nobody responded.

"Why's it so quiet?" asked Whiff as the engines left.

"Seriously? Oh come on, is it because of me?"

Thomas was with Annie and Clarabel in the carriage shed.

"Well Annie and Clarabel, it seems that Bulgy hasn't reported back yet," questioned Thomas.

Annie and Clarabel were cross.

"Thomas! Why would you accuse him?" spluttered Clarabel.

Suddenly the Fat Controller drove up in Winston.

"Oop, now he's going to get it," whispered Annie to Clarabel.

"Thomas! I'd like a word..."

Thomas was surprised but puffed over.

"Yes sir?"

"Thomas, I don't like it when other engines accuse my engines of something they didn't do!"

Thomas was worried.

"Well, I'm sorry sir, but, uh, I didn't know..."

"Then you shouldn't have accused!" scolded his driver.

Thomas knew his driver was right.

"I'm sorry sir..."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." said the Fat Controller gravely.

Billy puffed in to collect Diesel oil for Mavis.

Thomas sighed.

"Billy... .I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Billy grinned.

"Of course Thomas!"

Thomas grinned and the coaches chuckled.

Now the coal is cleared from the island and the engines are racing along again.

Best of all, Billy and Thomas are friends again.


End file.
